September 19, 2005

The Puppy Blender doubts it will succeed, but he wasn’t an early believer in California’s 2003 recall, either, and I think at least as good a case can be made to recall Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco as could ever have been made to impeach that guy whose term Arnold Schwarzenegger is finishing out. However, to succeed they’ll have to have a plan, and nailing down the difference between an impeachment and a recall would be a good place to start.

The NRA was a bit slow on the draw when the city of New Orleans began illegally confiscating everyone’s weapons, but they are hot on the case (h/t: Matt Rustler) now. If you are a New Orleans resident who has had a firearm confiscated stolen by the NOPD, call (888) 414-6333.

September 10, 2005

Tomorrow’s New York Times reports that Katrina Leskanich, the former lead singer of Katrina and the Waves, has a solo album coming out next month. The release date was originally set for September 5, which would have been really crappy timing.

The article also quotes a few other non-hurricanes named Katrina (though it missed my sister in law), and there seems to be a consensus among them that naming hurricanes after people is a bad idea. At the risk of sounding like a naive foreigner, I must confess that I agree. When California’s disasters strike, usually in the form of earthquakes, we name the damned things after the location of their epicenter, not after any individuals who did nothing to cause them. I take some comfort in the fact that when a nasty earthquake struck Northridge in 1994, it didn’t occur to anyone to name it “Earthquake Xrlq,” and I think I can safely assume Aphrael, Doc Rampage (or maybe not) and Bill Quick are similarly pleased that there was never any danger of the Loma Prieta earthquake being named after them, either. And it’s not just earthquakes that don’t get human names; it’s just about everything but hurricanes. We all remember the mudslides that trashed a few homes in Laguna Beach and pretty much wiped out La Conchita last year, but did we really need to call them Mudslide Richard and Mudslide Alex? I don’t think so. If the September 11 attacks had occurred on a date whose numbers don’t coincide with the number we dial in emergencies (or if we’re idiots upset that we didn’t “have it our way” at Burger King), we might not call that dreadful day “9-11,” but we sure as hell wouldn’t call it “Terrorist Attack Noam,” tempting though that may be. So why name hurricanes?

September 8, 2005

September 7, 2005

Via reader TTyler, here is a link to a clearinghouse for volunteers in the Houston-Galveston area and the public. It is intended to help match up volunteers with places to volunteer and donors with places to drop stuff off. If you are in the greater Houston area, be sure to check it out.